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Thursday, August 27, 2015

The Odyssey's "Luau Extravaganza"

Last Friday was my birthday. I wanted to do something
special, but I didn’t want it to be stressful. I thought about a beach day, but
with traffic, that sounded stressful.

We live in the valley, so my husband made dinner
reservations at The Odyssey since that’s not very far away and would have a
nice sunset view. I always enjoy a sunset view.

The day before my birthday, I went to The Odyssey’s website
to glance at the menu, and I noticed that they were having a special event on
my birthday, a “Luau Extravaganza.” I asked my husband to call and see if we
could get tickets to the luau. He called that night and asked if we could order
the luau food while sitting in the restaurant at a table by the window. I’m not
sure who he talked to, but the guy said “I don’t see why not.” I didn’t think
that sounded right. It was a luau “extravaganza” after all, and it said you
needed tickets and that there would be live entertainment. I pictured a guy
playing a slack key guitar and another guy on the drums. “Live entertainment”
usually translates to “live music” in my mind. So, my husband called back the
next day, and he was told that there were 10 tickets left for the luau. He was
told that the event started at 6pm and that seating would be first come first
serve. He was also told that there would be tray passed appetizers at 6pm,
dinner at 7pm and entertainment at 8pm with games after that. He filled out an
online form and emailed it back to reserve the tickets.

island cocktails

My mom came over to babysit (yay for grandmothers!), and we
arrived at The Odyssey a little before 6pm. We wanted to make sure we got seats
with the best sunset view possible. We were told to wait because they weren’t
seating yet, so we went down to the bar area and looked at the view.

Then I noticed that people were outside on the patio, so we
went over to the hostess desk by the bar (where we were told to go to be seated
for the event) and gave her our name. We were asked “Do you mind sharing a
table with another couple?” I immediately said “yes.” My husband added, “it’s
her birthday.” We were told that the seats were assigned. That they were not in
fact first come first serve upon arrival but upon buying the tickets. We were
told that they added 10 more tables just that morning. We were told to wait and
they’d see what they could do. Turns out they found another couple who didn’t
mind sharing their table, so we were given our own table.

Oh, there’s so much to say. Let me just say that I don’t
want to write a negative review. I really don’t. I hope that the things I say
in this blog post, that if they’re read by the management at The Odyssey, that
these comments can be used to improve future events.

When giving feedback they say to give positive feedback
first, right?

-Well, the hostess did manage to get us our own
table. That’s good.

fruit display

-Each ticket included a drink voucher which you
could exchange for either an “island cocktail” or two non-alcoholic beverages.
There were two island cocktails, a mai tai or a blue Hawaiian. We got one of
each so we could try both. The bartender poured the drinks right in front of
us. The blue Hawaiian got a nice garnish. The mai tai was just given a cherry
dropped inside. I liked the taste of the mai tai better, and my husband
preferred the blue Hawaiian, so it worked out. So, the drinks were good. That’s
positive, right?

-The weather was perfect.

-Of the luau food, I liked the huli huli chicken,
the macademia crusted fish, and the fruit display was impressive.

What else? Let me go on to the negatives.

-I already mentioned the confusion about whether
seating was first come first serve or not. It seems that the employees aren’t
on the same page since we were told the exact opposite on the phone as we were
when we arrived.

-If we were supposed to share a table, that’s
something we should’ve been told when making the reservation.

-There were tiny ants on our table.

-There were tiny ants on the table next to us, so
the ladies sitting there asked to move tables. They were moved to another table
without a problem. (But I thought the seating was assigned?) A couple that
arrived late was later seated at the ant table next to us. The ladies that were
originally sitting there pulled the person who sat them there aside to tell her
about the ant situation, but they were told it had been taken care of. It
hadn’t. We were sitting right there. Nothing changed.

-The layout of the tables was bad. You either had
your back to sunset or to the entertainment. If the chairs and been arranged
just the opposite, everyone would’ve had a view of both the sunset and the
entertainment.

-The centerpieces on the table were
disappointing. It was just a yellow napkin opened up with a few shells
scattered on it and two votive candles. I could’ve done better than that,
especially for the price per person.

table decorations

-We were given leis, but they were the cheapest
leis possible. At luaus in Hawaiian you get real flower or shell leis. I didn’t
expect that, but these weren’t even the $1 leis at the party store. These were
cheaper than that. I know because I’ve bought leis for my own luau parties.

-I saw the lady who seated us standing on the
stairs eating appetizers. It looked unprofessional.

-They didn’t offer us water glasses, and when we
asked for water, it took about a half hour for it to arrive. When it did
arrive, there was an ant in my husband’s water glass (which he promptly
exchanged).

-The tray passed appetizers were tiny and if you
didn’t want raw meat or spam, your only option was Hawaiian (pineapple and ham)
pizza. Again, the pieces were tiny. It was just okay.

-Appetizers were passed around at 6pm, but we
didn’t have appetizer plates until 6:30pm, and the plates weren’t clean. I
wiped dirt off of mine.

-The buffet dinner started at 7pm, but there was
no announcement when it was ready. I saw people with plates of food, so I told
my husband, and we got in line.

-They really did cook a whole pig, but it tasted
undercooked. I’m not saying it wasn’t safe to eat. I’m saying it wasn’t
fall-off-the-bone delicious. It was kind of tough. I’ve eaten at luaus in
Hawaii. This needed to be cooked low and slow.

-The cooked plantains were cooked with the peels
on them and with the stickers still on the peels.

luau buffet

-There were more tables set up while we were
eating. I’m assuming they were overbooked or people arrived for dinner without
tickets to the luau and were sold tickets right then and there. Anyway, there
were tables set up where the entertainment was supposed to set up. The hostess
looked pretty distraught when she realized that. They ended up (politely and
apologetically) moving our table back to make room.

-During appetizers and dinner, Hawaiian music
(like Elvis) was played on a loop, which is fine, but the music stuck on the
song “Hawaiian Superman.” It’d cut out halfway through that song and then start
over at the beginning of the CD or whatever they were playing. It seemed
unprofessional.

-The live entertainment consisted for four hula
dancers who looked high school or college aged. They were supposed to perform
in one row, but there wasn’t room due to the added tables, so there were two in
front of our table and two behind it. They started performing when dessert was
set up (once again, no announcement about it, we just saw other people eating
it). It was my birthday, and I wanted cake, and I was stuck. I was literally
surrounded by hula dancers. It was like being on the stage. It was kind of
annoying.

dessert

-The music used for the entertainment was through
a portable speaker that cut in and out. It seemed pretty unprofessional.

-When there was a break between dancers, I went
to get up to get dessert and almost tripped because the tablecloth on our table
was too long. It was touching the floor and then some. That reminded me that
when my husband and I went to the Sunday brunch at the Odyssey a couple years
ago, I did trip on the tablecloth that was dragging on the floor, and that knocked
the complimentary champagne on my lap. They’re square tables. Fold the
tablecloths in half if you have to.

-I was hoping for coconut cake. No such luck. The
desserts were okay. Nothing special.

-After the entertainment, there was a raffle.
Each guest had a raffle ticket. The hostess had different guests draw the
raffle tickets. We actually won a free brunch. That’s nice, but it’s one free
brunch, so unless you want to eat alone, you have to buy brunch for someone
else.

-They never refilled our water glasses.

-We got a free ticket for the photo booth, but
the photo booth in the lobby said $3. We asked about it, and it was $3 per
person, and the ticket was good for one person. So, if there were two of you,
the picture would be $3. If there were three of you, the picture would be $6.
They were charging per person not per picture. We gave our ticket to another
couple so they could hopefully get a free photo.

-The backdrop for the photo booth was a blue
curtain. It was a luau. They should’ve had a Hawaiian picture for the backdrop
and perhaps some Hawaiian props.

Like I said, I don’t want to write
a negative review. If I had been given a comment card, these would’ve been my
comments. I felt bad for the hostess. It seemed like she knew how things were
supposed to go and everyone else was doing something different (such as setting
up tables where the hula dancers were supposed to perform) without her knowing
it. I will go back to the Odyssey. We have a Sunday brunch to use after all.
And, the bar area looked nice. I might try happy hour. Their drinks were good. However,
I will not go to another event at the Odyssey.